Editorial: Watch the debt, Mr. President

Wednesday

President Obama's speech Tuesday night on the State of the Union told many Americans what they wanted to hear: message received - more or less - from the Nov. 2 midterm elections.

But there's work still to do to ensure that the message is received in full. And that message simply is this: Quit piling on the debt.

Money remains the proverbial elephant in the room as the president spoke to a joint session of Congress about spending programs he believes are necessary to move the economic recovery forward.

Deficit hawks have been warning the administration in a loud and clear voice: The $14 trillion national debt is unsustainable and it threatens not only to slam the brakes on a recovery, but also to bankrupt the nation.

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Obama at least made a start, calling Tuesday night for a five-year spending freeze on non-security discretionary spending, which he said would reduce the deficit by $400 billion during the next decade. Given the size of this year's trillion-dollar deficit alone, though, the projected reductions seem like chicken feed.

The president called for a three-year spending freeze a year ago, but that proposal went virtually nowhere. This year's five-year spending plan might meet the same fate, given that Congress operates independently of the executive branch. Or, as the saying goes: The president proposes, but the Congress disposes.

Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Clarendon, sees little actual gain from freezing expenses "at their current inflated levels. I would prefer that we roll back spending to 2008 levels and start at that point."

Make no mistake that rolling back expenses would have a more profound impact on deficit-reduction than what the president is proposing and that is where Thornberry believes correctly the two sides "can have some discussion."

And let the arguments begin.

The president is correct in declaring progress on the road back from near-economic ruin. The nation is adding private-sector jobs. The stock market has staged a robust rebound, giving Americans who are approaching retirement hope that they'll be able to live in relative comfort. Consumers are showing confidence again in the economy.

But what should be the government's response to this good news? To spend more money and to drive the nation more deeply into debt? Of course not.

This is where the president needs to listen even more intently to voters who spoke out this past fall by handing Republicans control of the House of Representatives and slashing the size of the Democratic majority in the Senate.

Obama spoke of the need to trim the deficit and the debt.

The president said this: "We have to confront the fact that our government spends more than it takes in. That is not sustainable."

True enough. But there remains this insatiable urge among many in government to spend money they don't have. Obama's speech, while acknowledging the need for restraint, still calls for more government-sponsored spending. Obama spoke, for example, to rebuilding our infrastructure. "We will put more Americans to work repairing crumbling roads and bridges," he said.

That's a noble endeavor, Mr. President.

But from where does the money originate? Well, the government just prints it.

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Finally, calls for civil debate - born of the tragedy that erupted Jan. 8 in Tucson, Ariz., resulting in six shooting deaths at a political town hall meeting and the near-death of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. - came through in the president's speech.

He sought to appeal to the better angels of our nature and all Americans should honor Obama's plea without, of course, forsaking their principles.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, applauded "the change in the president's message," but said "now we have to see the follow through. We have to see policies to bring down the debt, rein in spending, and stop the over-regulation of business that stifles job creation in the private sector."

Indeed, the president spoke rightly that the state of our union is better than it was a year ago, or certainly the year before that. Let us not squander that relative good health, though, by spending our way into oblivion with money that doesn't exist.

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